Great bike to squirt about town on. I first rid it of it's fenders, and just today retro-fit the rear fender by having it just go over the topmost of the rear tire. Its easy to trim and looks much sportier than you might think.

Strengths: This is a sturdy fun bike that's great for getting around the city. It has a hybrid feel but is really a road bike. The bike also has excellent brakes, which are important for the streets of Chicago with all the crazy drivers in the city.

Weaknesses: This bike is not very light and is a bit on the slow side. However, I'm comparing that to my racing bike. If I compare that to my bike that was stolen, this bike is just as good if not better just for the shear pleasure of riding it.

Bottom Line:

I had an old Trek 8000 mountain bike that was tripped out with Rock Shox and all kinds of bells and whistles. Well the bike got stolen. Meanwhile last year I bought a beautiful Lemond Buenos Aires road racing bike (see my review on that bike). I needed an everyday bike for commuting to work and to run errands. I did not want to leave my $2000 Lemond bike parked around the streets of Chicago, which I did for about 5 months, and I was never sure if I was going to come back to a stripped bike or no bike at all. So I began my search for a good commuter bike. After searching and searching I found last year's model KHS Flite 200 road bike with a flat bar that was extremely comfortable to ride. I was looking for a hybrid but this bike is as comfortable as a hybrid but much more of a road bike due to the thin tires and racing style saddle. The bike also came with some really great fenders, which was awesome since I was going to buy some anyway. I purchased a Quick Track bike rack and an incredible MTX Quick Track trunk bag. The combo of all this stuff has made this bike a fun and very practical commuter vehicle. Also, you kind of feel like your traveling around in Europe on this bike and you just need a basket with a French loaf of bread in it. The one thing I did to this bike was remove the quick release tires and replace it with hex key locks for peace of mind when I leave the bike locked outside.

Similar Products Used: I put money down to buy a Kona Dew Deluxe. It had disc brakes that were cool but was a bit pricey ($600) and it only came in odd sizes, which the store was out of so I got my money back. I also test road an incredible Felt SR71 which was fast as hell and very agressive but it felt too much like my racing bike with a flat bar. I test road the Jamis Coda, which I heard nothing but raves about but after the test ride I thought it felt cheap.

Bike Setup: All stock except for the quick release hubs that I switched for the hex key locks. I added the bike rack and trunk bag for practicality purposes. The fenders were already on the bike at the store when they were selling it.